Do I Include My Child’s Income on My Tax Return?

In almost every case, no — your child files their own return. The only time you can include your child’s income on your tax return is a narrow election on Form 8814, and it applies only when the child’s income is entirely from interest, dividends, and capital gain distributions totaling less than $13,500, with several other conditions met.¹ Any wages, tips, self-employment earnings, or tax already withheld in the child’s name kills the option, and the child needs their own Form 1040.

The One Case Where You Can Include It

Form 8814 is the election that lets a parent report a child’s investment income on the parent’s return. Every one of the following has to be true for the year:²

The child’s only income was interest, dividends, and capital gain distributions. Even $1 of wages or gig income disqualifies the election.
The child’s gross income was less than $13,500.¹
No federal income tax was withheld from the child’s income and no estimated payments were made in the child’s name.
The child was not subject to backup withholding.
You are filing jointly with the child’s other parent, or you are the custodial parent.

Miss any one of those and the election is off the table. The child files their own return.

Why the Shortcut Often Costs More Than It Saves

Folding your child’s income into your return raises your adjusted gross income. A higher AGI can shrink or wipe out benefits that phase out with income, including the child tax credit, education credits, the earned income credit, the student loan interest deduction, and the deduction for traditional IRA contributions.² For a family sitting near any of those phase-out ranges, the paperwork you save by skipping the child’s return can be dwarfed by the credits you lose. Run the numbers both ways before you elect.

When Your Child Must File Their Own Return

A child claimed as a dependent has separate filing thresholds depending on the type of income. For the 2026 tax year:³

Earned income only (wages, tips, self-employment): filing is required if the child earned more than $16,100.
Unearned income only (interest, dividends, capital gains): filing is required if unearned income exceeds $1,350.
Both earned and unearned income: filing is required if gross income exceeds the greater of $1,350 or the child’s earned income plus $450.
Self-employment income: filing is required with net earnings of $400 or more, regardless of total income.⁴

A dependent’s standard deduction is not automatically $16,100. It equals the greater of $1,350 or the child’s earned income plus $450, capped at $16,100.³ A teenager who earned $4,000 at a summer job gets a $4,450 standard deduction. A child with no wages but $2,000 in dividends gets only $1,350.

Even if the child is below every threshold, file anyway if federal income tax was withheld from their pay. That is the only way to get the money back.

Earned Income Ends the Conversation

If your child had any wages, tips, or self-employment income, Form 8814 is not available and the child files their own return. Self-employment is the strictest trigger. A 14-year-old with net earnings of $400 from pet-sitting, mowing lawns, or selling on an online marketplace must file and pay self-employment tax at the same 15.3% rate an adult pays; age provides no exemption.⁴ Those earnings go on the child’s Schedule C and Schedule SE, filed with the child’s own Form 1040.

The Kiddie Tax Is Why This Question Exists

Parents often ask whether they can absorb the child’s income because they’ve heard that a child’s investment income can be taxed at the parent’s rate. That rule is the Kiddie Tax, and it applies whether the income sits on the child’s return or on yours through Form 8814.¹

It applies to a child with unearned income above the threshold who was, at year-end:⁵

Under 18; or
18 and did not have earned income covering more than half of their own support; or
19 to 23, a full-time student, and did not have earned income covering more than half of their own support.

For 2026, the tiers work like this:³

The first $1,350 of unearned income is covered by the dependent’s standard deduction and is tax-free.
The next $1,350 is taxed at the child’s own rate, usually 10%.
Anything above $2,700 is taxed at the parent’s marginal rate, up to 37%.

When the child files, the calculation goes on Form 8615 and uses the parent’s taxable income and filing status. The tax liability still belongs to the child. For married parents filing separately, the calculation uses whichever parent has the higher taxable income; for divorced or separated parents, it uses the custodial parent’s rate.⁵

So the choice between Form 8814 and having your child file their own return with Form 8615 is not a choice about whether the high rate applies. It’s a choice about paperwork and about what electing does to your AGI.

Filing a Return Doesn’t Change Dependency Status

A child can file their own return and still be your dependent. The two questions are separate. As long as the child meets the qualifying child test (under 19 at year-end, or under 24 if a full-time student; lived with you more than half the year; did not provide more than half of their own support) or the qualifying relative test, you still claim them.⁶ A qualifying relative’s gross income for 2026 must be below $5,300.³

Dependency is what lets you claim the child tax credit and related benefits.⁷ A 17-year-old who earned $8,000 at a part-time job files their own return and checks the box indicating someone else can claim them; you still list them as a dependent on yours.

Signing, Penalties, and State Rules

If your child is too young to sign, a parent or guardian signs on the child’s behalf by writing the child’s name and adding, “By [parent’s signature], parent for minor child.”⁸ Older children sign for themselves. Either way, making sure a required return actually gets filed is on the parent while the child is a minor.

Skipping a required return carries the usual failure-to-file penalty: 5% of unpaid tax per month, up to 25%. For returns due after December 31, 2025 and more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is $525 or 100% of the unpaid tax, whichever is smaller, plus interest.⁹

One boundary worth flagging: federal rules are only half of it. Most states with an income tax set their own dependent filing thresholds, and many are lower than the federal ones. Check your state’s tax agency for its rules. A child who owes nothing to the IRS may still need to file a state return, either to pay tax or to recover state withholding.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 553, Tax on a Childs Investment and Other Unearned Income (Kiddie Tax)
2
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8814
3
Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-32
4
Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)
5
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 8615 Tax for Certain Children Who Have Unearned Income
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 (2025), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
7
Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
8
Internal Revenue Service. Return Signature
9
Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty